Forests of the Fey
by SapphireOceans
Summary: Lately, Connie has been having strange dreams, dreams where she is pursued through a forest by a dark power. But what are the true meanings of her dreams? Soon, she and Col uncover one of the Society's darkest, and most shameful secrets... Title's changed
1. Prologue

**Hey Guys, this is my first fanfiction, so be nice! I've been thinking up this one for a while, but just recently changed it, but can't revel these changes without giving away the plot. It's set between the third and fourth books, and in around May. Although I think that Connie and Col would actually only be around 13 or 14 in book four, you know, Year 9 ish, but i'm going to put them in Year 10, so they'd be around 15, in their first year of GCSE's, for the NATO thing (more on that later). I hope that you enjoy!**

Prologue

She ran through the forest, gasping for breath as her feet thumped against the earthen floor. She had a stitch ripping through her ribcage, and branches whipped against her bare arms, leaving angry red marks which would later darken to deep purple bruises. She leapt over a small stream, skidding slightly on the mossy bank, catching her sleeve on a protruding twig, and ripping it. With an ironic laugh, she though about what her aunt would say if she could see the state she was in now, but then reminded herself that she was running for her life from the dark shadows that pursued her, so she kept on running, running, running without end, until the ground disappeared from under her feet, and she was falling, her long dark hair whipping her face, arms flailing, throat burning with her terrified screams, down towards the dark raging waters of the sea below.

Everything dissolved into black mist, cocooning her body, and a silky voice whispered in her ear; "And now, Universal, you are mine"

Which was when, In a small town called Hescombe, on the boarder of Dartmoor, on the coast of Devon, Connie Lionheart awoke with a scream.


	2. Symbol

**Hello all you Companions quartet fans out there! First of all, I would like to thank Anglemail, Mbali97 and Jasper Winked for their positive reviews, congratulations guys- you are my first reviewers, and you all brought a smile to my face. Now, I was at Center Parcs for the past 5 days, so this is me typing up what I've written on paper. Connie and Col aren't a couple yet, but there is definite connection. Sadly, as this is set between the third and fourth books, I can't make them a couple, as I'd be jumping ahead of myself. So here we go, hope you enjoy!!!!! (Please only give nice reviews or views that contain constructive criticism. No nastiness please****)**

Chapter One- Symbol (Connie)

"...So today class" droned Miss Jefferson "we are going to be learning about NATO. Does anybody know what NATO stands for...?"

"Are you alright Connie?" murmured Col from behind his open history textbook. "You look shattered.

"...well done Jane, it does stand for the North Atlantic..."

"I'm just a bit sleepy." Replied Connie, pretending to be looking for page 286 in her massive text book, "I had that dream again"

"Another one?" said col.

"...NATO was formed in 1949..."

"Yeah" said Connie looking down.

"That's not good Connie. That's not good at all. Was it the same as Monday's?

"...Now, the USSR was not too happy about this, as you'd imagine..."

"What? What was it?"

"Kullervo."

"WHAT!?"

" Am I interrupting your conversation, Mr Clamworthy? Miss Lionheart?

"Oh. Er, well, um..." Col stuttered and trailed off.

"Well, if you are _quite_ finished," snarled an irate Miss Jefferson" then perhaps you would care to turn your heads towards the board?"

They both obliged. "Now, here is the symbol of NATO..." as the history teacher began again, the image on the board suddenly changed. Col let out a startled gasp, but Connie did not need that or the kick under the table he gave her to realise what was familiar about the image the whiteboard was showing them. She too was staring I shock at the unexpected emergence of the Universals compass in the middle of a GCSE history lesson on the cold war.

**Thanks for reading; the second chapter will be up soon. Now my foot has gone to sleep. The next chapter is a bit confusing as I start rambling, so if it doesn't make sense, please say. Hope you enjoy, please feel free to review. **


	3. Dreamer

**Hallo chaps, today I am writing this up when I should be revising. I won't be able to update for a while, since my mocks of mocks (sounds crazy? I know!) started on Monday, so I have loads of boring exams to revise for. This chapter is a bit weird, so if it doesn't make sense, please say in reviews, and I might go back and change it. Sooooooooo, I hope you enjoy, even though it's a bit weird. **

**xxx**

Chapter Two- Dreamer (Connie)

The wind was rustling the leaves on the trees in the garden and the rain began to patter against the tiles on the houses and on the roofs of cars. The sea was hissing gently against the shore and sucking at the pebbles on the beach. All this combined into a familiar melody which seeped into Connie's dreams...

Connie knew she was asleep and dreaming. She could tell, because she had that strange disconcerting feeling of befuddlement which always accompanies dreams, leaving you knowing only the basic outline of what was happening. Grey mist filled her thoughts, tuning her into the dream. But something was wrong. Although she knew, in her dream state, that she was having a dream about a society party, which suddenly turned into a circus, where Rat was parading around the ring on Icefens back, wearing a lime green tutu, she was...detached. Something was pulling her away from her natural dreams. With a flash of obliterating terror, she tried to cling to the absurdity of the dream to prevent the oncoming darkness invading her mind. She felt the dream..._stretch_, it was going wrong. It started to break up, it was full of confusion, Rat had a wolfs head, Col jerked towards her with blood red eyes which suddenly changed- one becoming acid yellow and the other becoming molten gold...Connie screamed as she felt the dream shatter, breaking into a million swirling fragments which fell with her as she tumbled into-

A dark wood, lined with shadows, all chasing her as she ran, reaching for with tendrils of black mist, black mist that swirled into feminine shapes, which gazed at her with burning red eyes, as she stumbled and ran on, and burst into... a forest clearing, filled with pure green light, filtering down through the leaves of the surrounding trees. Connie came to a halt in the centre of the clearing, and turned round slowly, uncertain of where she was. She took a deep breath, and was about to start forwards, when an indignant voice from behind said "I say, who the blazes are you?"

**Hope you enjoyed, please review if you have time, no rude comments please! Thank-you for reading **


	4. Awakening

**Hey, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm at my Nans at the moment am not really doing any revision at the moment, and as I wrote up to chapter three and half of chapter four on paper at Center Parcs in the holidays, I'm typing them up now. I hope you enjoy!**

**This chapter is dedicated to Mbali97 for all her positive reviews and for reviewing Chapter 2 minutes after I uploaded it!**

Chapter Three- Awakening (Connie)

Connie spun round with a start. A girl with long dark brown hair and a smattering of golden freckles across her nose was looking at her, her hazel eyes wide in surprise. "Who are you?" she repeated "and what are you doing in my garden?"

"Er...my names Connie" Connie replied "what's yours?"

"Sara" said the girl, and this time when she spoke, Connie recognised the soft bur of a south-west country accent, Cornish perhaps?

"Right," said Sara, tossing back her hair with an air of determination, "what are you-"

"-doing you lazy so and so!" cried Evelyn, whipping back the duvet on Connie's bed. Connie groaned, rolled over, and curled into a ball, squinting against the bright sunlight as Evelyn savagely yanked back the curtains and turned on her niece. " You have 10 minutes to get dressed, get ready for school and you can eat breakfast on the bus. What are you playing at? You have your GCSE's next year! I don't know!"

Evelyn blasted out of the bedroom, a whirlwind of energy. Connie flopped back onto the bed, sighing, and then suddenly sat up, indignant, and yelled down the stairs " Aunt Evelyn, today's an inset day!"

**This chapter is based on my early morning relationship with my mum. This has happened before.**


	5. Surprises

**Here is Chapter Four, inspired by my Great-Uncle's 70****th****. Hope you enjoy! This chapter is dedicated to Angelmail, for giving me my first ever review, and for all her other lovely reviews **

Chapter Four-Surprises (Col/Connie)

"Come on gran, it's just round the corner" Col tugged on his grandmothers hand. "Alright, are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be after being blindfolded and driven off to who knows where." She replied dryly.

"O.K..." said Col, pulling off the blindfold, "Surprise!"

He grinned as his grandmothers hands flew to her mouth in shock, her eyes filling with happy tears as she looked around at all the people whose eyes she had touched during her 70 years.

"Happy Birthday Gran" said Col, beaming as she enfolded him in a loving hug.

***

Evelyn put her arm around Connie and gave her a squeeze as they watched a steady stream of well-wishers go to congratulate Lavinia. "This was such a nice idea of Cols" Connie mused, smiling to herself at the happiness on Mrs. Clamworthy's face.

"Well, I understand that you gave him quite a lot of help" replied Evelyn.

"So did you!" laughed Connie "after all, it was you and Mack who arranged to use the house for the day- and paid for it too!"

"Yes, thank God the owner is an old friend of Dr. Brock, and so agreed to cut down the price a little."

"A little?" said a voice behind them, and Mack barged between them and threw an arm around each "why" he said "we almost got the place for free! I think that Dr. Brock must have been hit on the head by one of his fancy rockets if he expects us to believe that Mrs Godfry is nothing more than 'an old friend'" here, Mack waggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, Mack!" Evelyn gave him a shove. Mack seized her around the waist, spinning her around before planting her gently back on the floor. Connie smiled. Evelyn's happiness had been complete since her marriage to Mack; she had even managed to wear something other than her usual black. Her floaty flame red dress wafted gently around her legs in the gentle breeze.

"Hey, Connie!" cried a familiar voice. She turned to see Col running towards her.

"Hi" she said, stepping forwards. Col slid to a halt in front of her.

"This place is great!" he said, "come and have a look at the rest of the gardens!"

**Ohhhhhhh- the tension begins to mount! Who is this mysterious Mrs Godfry, and what connections does she have to the society..... Please review and I will hopefully try and make up some answers! Remember: no nastiness please, only constructive criticism!**


	6. Garden

**Hey there, readers, I am excited as I only have one more exam to go (ICT-yuck!) so I can do a bit more writing soon. I have recently realised that I am now a fanfiction addict, and will have to join fanfic anonymous (lol), so you'll be seeing a lot of me around! This is my last pre-written chapter (the ones I wrote on paper at Center Parcs) so there will be a lot of improvisation ahead! Oh well. Enjoy the chapter, and please review- It makes me very happy to see those review alert notices pop up in my inbox!!**

**This chapter is dedicated to Jasper Winked for her really nice and helpful reviews!!!**

Chapter Five- Garden (Connie)

"I like your dress," Col said awkwardly as they walked through a garden full of the bright colours and sweet smells of April tulips in bloom. "It's a really pretty colour."

"Thanks" said Connie, smiling. She too liked the dress- it was made of a sea green silky material that ended just above her knees. "Nice tie." She said in reply. Col grinned, self-consciously straightening the navy blue bow tie which matched his suit.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to look smart for gran" Col said with a sheepish smile. He decided, then to get to the point, whilst they were alone together. "Look, Connie?"

"Yeah?"

"You know, um, a couple of months ago...?"

"Yeah..."

"When you said goodbye to me that time and told me that I was one in a million?"

"Urm...yeah..." Connie turned scarlet, suddenly realising what he was getting at.

"Well, Connie, I was wondering if you-"

"Hey! You two!"

Rat came running up the path behind them.

"Where do you think you're going without me?

***

The creature in the tree looked down on the three teenagers as they walked beneath her. She paid particular attention to the willowy girl with the long black hair who, unknown to humans, radiated a silvery glow. She turned to her companion and said in a low, firm voice. "That's her. That's the girl from Sara's garden."

***

They walked to the end of the garden, where they found themselves having to choose to go left or right. One way went to the maze, the other to more gardens and, eventually the woods beyond.

"Which way do you want to go?" Col asked the others.

"Let's go and see the woods" said Connie

Rat scowled. "But I wanted to go in the maze" he moaned, glaring at Connie.

"Why don't we toss a coin?" said Col. "heads, we'll go in the maze. Tails, we'll go to the woods."

He tossed the coin. He dropped the coin. Everyone chased after it as it rolled down the path. Rat got there first. His scowl deepened. "I demand a re-match!" he cried "Col dropped it, it's not fair!"

"Woods it is then." said Col, beginning to walk down the right hand path.

"You're only agreeing with Connie because you fancy her." muttered Rat under his breath.

**Ta-dah!!! That was chapter five people!!! I'm inspired now, so I'm going to write chapter six as well now, so that should be up quickly! I don't want to beg for reviewers, but it would be so nice to hear people's opinions! Remember, no nastiness, only constructive criticism. And remember my motto for today: "Laugh in the face of failure!" I made that up because I had a Spanish exam today lol. This is my longest chapter so far! I'm so proud * sobs dramatically into hanky***

**Have a nice day!!! **

**Love Sapphy**

**xxx**


	7. Mist

**Now, I'm going to add to the mystery- muhahahahahahaaaa! Please enjoy the chapter- sorry that it's so short!**

**Dedicated to Dreamy Spires, who is insane, but I love her for it. And she asked me to sit with her and the other Year 11's (who I always was terrified of, being an innocent Year 10) when I was on my own. And she is my choir buddy.**

Chapter Six- Mist (Sara)

Sara strolled along the beach, discontentedly kicking the occasional pebbles that littered the sandy shore. The beach was where she came to be alone, not that she wasn't alone most of the time. But today, she felt alone more than ever. She how could she ever face her family again? Her eyes burned with the tears which began to trickle down her cheeks and drip onto the collar of her dress. She finally crumpled onto a rock, burying her head in her hands, her body racking with suppressed sobs. Her parents' disappointed and humiliated faces swam before her eyes, accompanied by Kitty's sneering one. And Aunt Arabella- what would she say when she found out? She sniffed, and tied to bat away the tears, but more kept coming. Her one chance to belong- and she's blown it completely. It might not have been as big a blow if even one of her cousins was there, but no Hugh was off at some boarding school, and the rest had their own lives. That was the trouble with having cousins older than you. She took a deep breath, trying to get the sobs under control. She straightened up, wiped her face and brushed the sand off of the skirt of her dress, staring out to sea as she did so. She squinted as she peered out at an incoming bank of mist, not quite believing her eyes.

"Funny," she muttered to herself "I've never seen dark blue mist before..."

**Please review- it makes my day to see the emails in my inbox! **


	8. Door

**I wrote up to chapter 10 whilst I was at meeting on healthy eating that my mum dragged me too **** Warning you now, chapter eight is very short!!! And my computer is being really slow right now, as I am watching a video of Nerina Pallot live at the Union Chapel (Nerina has been my favourite singer since I was 6 or 7) and more people should listen to her! And I was at the Union Chapel Gig, and it was amazing!!! So here is the link to the video I'm watching: **.com/watch?v=B0aoNe6ytt4**.You may get bored w1th my Nerina Obsession, but I never will****. So anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter! **

**This chapter is dedicated to Darling Summers for her lovely reviews, and for her Inspiration Penguin!**

Chapter Seven- Door (Connie)

The door was small, made of a worn looking wood, and decorated with a pattern of delicate iron swirls. The boy's were messing around, trying to see who could climb the highest in a nearby apple tree, but she was entranced. There was something special about this door, something...as she stared, the metal seemed to glow silver. The iron butterflies on the door began to twitch their wings and the metal flowers seemed to grow as she watched them. Almost unconsciously, Connie stretched out a hand to touch the do-

"OUCH!"

Col and Rat ran over.

"What-?"

"Connie, are you O.K?"

Connie stared at her hand. There was a white mark on the palm, where she had touched the door, in the shape of a butterfly. As she watched, it shone silver and disappeared. She gaped at it in astonishment.

"What was that?" Col asked in awe.

"It happened when I touched the door...it burned me!"

They all stared at the door, and the high stone wall that it was set in. Connie stepped forward again, and reached for the decorative handle. She tried to turn it, this time half expecting the shock and the ensuing tingle. She tried to turn it, but all that happened was that it gave out an ominous clunk.

"It's locked!" she said, in a disappointed voice, gasping as she let go and the tingle ceased.

" Let me try" Col offered, stepping up to the door. But as he reached for the handle, an irate voice behind them made them all jump.

"What do you children think you're doing?"

They all spun around guiltily. The imposing figure of Mrs Godfry towered over them.

"Um..."

"Well..."

"We were...er..."

Mrs Godfry glowered at them. "This garden is locked for a reason!"

"Sorry." they all muttered.

"Anyway, I came to fetch you," Mrs Godfry said "it's time to eat." She turned on her heel and stalked back to the house. The three of them watched her go. Rat stuck his tongue out and waggled it behind her back.

"There's something funny about her." He said.

"You're right." Col agreed.

Connie nodded, but she was still staring at the door. "There's something funny about all of this," She murmured softly "something isn't right..."

**O.K, that was chapter seven, I hope you enjoyed! Chapter eight is really short folks, just warning you!!! But now this is officially the longest FF chapter I have written so far, so hopefully this should make up for it!**


	9. Stables

**Sorry that this is such a short one! This chapter is dedicated to my really good friend Sean, who is a great author, actor, and co-director! Please enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter Eight: Stables (Sara)

Sara stroked the velvety nose of the horse, feeling the tough strands of straw digging into her legs. She had been banned from the Mastertons farm because she was told she kept getting in the way. She moved closer to the horses' side, and it nuzzled her hair with its nose, huffing gently, and she giggled at the tickling sensation. She really should be getting back to the house, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She felt her mind turn, as it often did, to the girl who had suddenly appeared – and just as suddenly disappeared- in her garden. Connie, that was what she had said her name was. She wondered who she was, and what she was doing now...

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review, it makes my day to see the little yellow envelopes appear in my inbox :).**


	10. Secrets

**I have resorted to using italics. Things just go serious...Enjoy ****! Please reveiw!**

Chapter Nine- Secrets (Connie)

"Hello, Connie isn't it?"

Connie turned. Mrs Godfry was standing behind her, amazingly, smiling.

"Um...yes..." she said.

"Good to meet you, properly this time. I feel that we may have gotten off to a bad start. But I do get so protective, almost paranoid!" Mrs Godfry said with a little laugh, shaking Connie's hand.

"Oh, well, it's nice to meet you too" said Connie, a little confused.

"Sorry for being a little over enthusiastic, but my sister- well, I'm sure Dr. Brock has told you all about that hasn't he?"

Connie didn't quite know what to say to this.

"Oh...er...what's your sisters' name? Is she here today?" she said politely.

Mrs Godfrys' eyes widened.

"You mean you don't know? No one's ever told you? I thought someone would at least have _mentioned_ it..."

Connie was decidedly confused now. "Mentioned _what_?

"Ah, Katherine, how are yo-"

Mrs Godfry rounded on him.

"You didn't tell her?!"

Dr. Brock jumped back from a snarling Mrs Godfry in surprise.

"Wha- what?" he gasped, shocked.

"I thought that after last time-"

"Now come on Kath, why don't we tale this outside?"

Dr. Brock put a comforting arm around Mrs Godfry which she shook off angrily. He grabbed hold of her arm again, this time practically dragging her from the room, shutting the door behind them. This, however, did not stop Mrs Godfrys' shouting from leaking through.

"The society completely failed-

I can't BELIEVE that I'm hearing this!

She deserves to know!

DON'T YOU TRY TO 'SHUSH' ME FRANCIS!!!

But Connie could be in danger-

KULLERVO IS A SERIOUS PROB-

How DARE you even suggest that!

She was my little sister Francis!"

The sound of a ringing slap came from behind the door.

Connie stood frozen, quite unsure what to think anymore.

**Lol, I just realised the last bit rhymes! Chapter Ten is another short one I'm afraid- it's called Solitude. Please review! The little yellow envelopes make me happy!**


	11. Solitude

**Here is Chapter 10, sorry that it is short.**

Chapter 10- Solitude (Sara)

The sun was setting as Sara wearily trudged through the side gate. She was hoping that she would be able to get through the garden and into the house unseen, but quickly realised from the brightly lit rooms that this would be impossible. So instead of going along the gravel path towards the large house, she turned to left instead, towards the woods- and her garden.

**Four lines and 70 words- now that is what you call a short chapter- maybe it should have been an interlude?**


	12. Real

**Hey... Chapter Ten was four lines on word, but now it's two on here- why are my chapters so short? What's wrong with me!**

Chapter Eleven-

"You're very quiet Connie."

"What?" Connie jumped, startled out of her thoughts by Evelyn's remark.

"Oh." She said. "I'm fine, really. Just a little tired." This wasn't entirely true. She was tired- but she was also confused. And the worst thing, more than the tiredness or confusion, was the fear tingling through her veins.

A slice of moonlight spilled through the curtains and onto the bedroom floor, bathing Connie in a silver glow. She didn't even have time to contemplate how beautiful it was. She was asleep the second her head hit the pillow.

Everything was bathed in red and gold light. Connie blinked and looked around. Sara was sitting curled up in a ball; under a weeping willow her head resting in her arms, slightly turned as she watched the glorious sunset.

"Sara?"

Sara lifted her head to look at her, hastily wiping her eyes.

"Oh, hello Connie." She smiled wryly. "No point in asking how you got in here, is there?"

Connie smiled. "Believe me; I have no more idea than you."

Sara stared at her. "What I want to know is why do you keep disappearing? Can't you use the gate like anyone else?"

Connie looked at her in surprise "What do you mean disappearing?"

Sara stared at her "You vanished. Into thin air. You were talking to me one second, and then you were gone."

Her face seemed slightly pale. "What are you Connie? Are you some sort of ghost? Am I going mad?"

Connie stared at her in shock. "Hello? I'm the one dreaming this and you're calling me mad?"

Sara stood up, shaking slightly, "What on earth are you talking about? This isn't a dream, this is real life!"

Connie began to shake as well. "No, it's not. I fell asleep and woke up here. For the second time." She gave a nervous laugh. "Why am I even having this conversation? You're not real. You're just a part of my crazy imagination."

Sara walked over angrily, and slapped her, hard. "Real enough for you!" she shrieked, losing it.

The slap hurt. Connie raised a hand to her face in shock.

"But... wait." She looked at Sara, at her hair, partially pulled back by a blue ribbon, at her blue dress, which seemed oddly... old fashioned. A crazy, impossible idea suddenly sprung into her mind.

"Sara, what's... what's the date?"

Sara frowned. "It's Sunday of course."

"No, the actual date."

"It's the 2nd of March"

Connie, sighed, exasperated. "No! Sara... what year is it?"

Sara looked at Connie in confusion. "1949, of course."

**Dan dun dah! Lol. Please review!**


	13. Future

**WARNING! Mucho Col and Connie fluff approaching! (Oh, and the –x-'s are instead of triple *'s, because the triple *'s don't show up for some stupid reason.)**

Chapter 12- Future (Col/Connie)

Col rang the doorbell of No. 5 Shaker Row, and it was answered by Evelyn.

"Hi Col!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "Come on in!"

Col returned her smile as he stepped into the hallway.

"Thanks. Is Connie in?"

Evelyn smiled knowingly. "She's in her bedroom. She might still be asleep- lazy thing, it's nearly 12 O'Clock! If she is, wake her up will you?

-x-

Connie stared, transfixed at Sara.

"W-what?" she stammered.

Sara looked at her in astonishment. "What's wrong? Connie?" she gave a nervous laugh. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

-x-

Col knocked on Connie's door. "Connie?"

-x-

"Sara...where I come from...it's 2010."

Sara looked at her in shock, eyes wide with horror.

-x-

Col walked into the room. Connie was lying under her duvet, her long black hair spread over her pillow.

-x-

Sara burst out laughing. "Good one!" she gasped between howls of mirth, "I suppose you think I'm a total fool! You nearly had me there!" She fell into peals of laughter again. Connie glared at her.

"Sara, I'm serious!"

-x-

Col walked over to Connie's sleeping form and knelt down beside her. He was hesitant to wake her, she looked so peaceful- he had never noticed more than now how beautiful she really was. Her long dark lashes cast a shadow against her ivory skin and her hair rippled over her pillows like dark water. He mentally shook himself, breaking the spell and tentitavly placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. "Connie?"

-x-

"Sara, have you ever seen anyone wearing anything like this before?" Connie gestured to her pyjama's- black bottoms with white polka dots and a white strappy top. Sara looked her up and down, and then looked at her face.

"You're serious, aren't you?" she said slowly. "You really think that you're from the future!" she begun to back away, like she thought craziness was contagious.

Connie rolled her eyes. "Sara, I'm not a nutter!" she said exasperatedly.

"Connie?"

Connie whipped round at the sound of his voice. "Col?"

-x-

Connie's eyelids fluttered. "Col?" she murmured.

-x-

Sara stared at her in terror.

"Oh, help!" she cried. "Oh my gosh, you're not mad- I am!"

Connie stared at her. "Sara? What happened?"

"You just sort of... flickered! You faded out for a second, like a television with bad reception!"

-x-

"Connie," Col said again "wake up! Come on!" he shook her for the second time.

-x-

"Sara, listen." Connie said, "You are not mad! I am real, and I promise that I'll come back if I leave. I will try and get back here tomorrow."

Sara nodded. "Alright then, but Connie-"

"Wake up!"

-x-

"What...?" Connie moaned, rolling over and sitting up. "What time is it?"

"Nearly 12" said Col. "Come on lazy!"

Connie yawned and climbed out of bed, pulling on a dressing gown as she went.

"Connie...are you O.K?" asked Col, taking in her pale face.

"Col, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

**This was a long chapter! Hooray! Hope you enjoyed- please review!**


	14. Morning

**Shock! Horror! Gasp! My mother has finally gone over the edge! She now thinks that I should only be allowed to have 1 hour of computer time a day! How will I cope?! How will I type up my stories? Well, by pretending to be doing my homework and write FF instead of course! (Which is what I'm doing now, tee hee!) I will not stand for this...er...computerism!**

Chapter Thirteen- Morning (Sara)

She hated the mornings. They were always so cold. Sara snuggled further under her blanket, keeping her eyes closed and listening to the sounds of birds singing outside her window. She felt so happy, so warm, so content...which was when the events of yesterday hit her with more force than a bus. She groaned at the prospect of facing everyone at breakfast, but, nevertheless, heaved herself out of bed and quickly began to wash. 15 minutes later, wearing a neat pale blue blouse teamed with a navy blue cardie and a dove grey skirt, she was sitting at the breakfast table, wishing that she was anywhere else. Her mother sympathetically patted her hand with a strained smile on her face.

"Don't worry darling," she said "it doesn't matter to us at all. You're still our little girl."

Sara stared resolutely into her half empty porridge bowl.

Her father ruffled her hair as he walked into the room.

"Don't worry poppet, I'm sure there'll be other things..."

Sara pulled away from his hand in annoyance.

"Yes, don't worry Sara" Kitty said sweetly, pulling Sara into a hug. "Don't worry about it poor ickle Sara-kins." Kitty hissed in her ear. "No one really wanted you to join anyway-freak!"

Sara felt her eyes sting and blinked away her sudden tears. She felt her face burn scarlet with humiliation, and jumped out of her seat, Kitty's cruel words cutting like a knife through her chest.

"You know what? I don't care!" she yelled, running to the door, almost running over her Aunt Arabella. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks, and she brushed them away angrily.

"I never wanted to join you're stupid Society anyway!"

**I hope you enjoyed! Please review!!!**


	15. Revelation

**Here's chapter 14- sorry for the length! **

Chapter Fourteen- Revelation (Connie)

The room was silent after she'd finished. Evelyn and Mack stared at her, as though they couldn't believe what they'd just heard. Connie was beginning to regret telling them about her crazy dreams- but Col had insisted, and she figured that she owed him, especially after last year. Finally, Evelyn spoke. "What did you say her name was?"

"Sara. I didn't get her last name"

"And....what year did she say she was from?"

"1949"

Mack appeared confused.

"Wait...what?" I thought that these were just weird dreams." He looked at Evelyn, sudden comprehension dawning on his face. "Evelyn...do you know this Sara girl?"

Evelyn stood up. "We need to call Doctor Brock."

**Well, that was another short one! Please review and Chapter 15 will be up soon!**


	16. Discovery

**Sorry I haven't updated for so long! I've been very busy with school work. But here are the next three chapters! I hope you enjoy! Please review!**

**Dedicated to CopyCatsHurtfulKisses because she introduced me to Paramore! :D (Watching vid for Brick by Boring Brick now Cat!)**

Chapter Fifteen- Discovery (Sara)

Sara ran down the lane from the house, tears blinding her, just needing to get away. She fell and cut her knee, but scrambled to her feet and kept running, running until- CRASH!

"Oh! Sorry!" she said, getting off the floor and helping up the little girl she'd run into. The man with the girl picked up the bike which Sara had knocked over, and which, thankfully, seemed unharmed.

"That's quite alright." the small girl said in a quiet voice, smiling at Sara shyly.

"No harm done." said the man, grinning at Sara in a roguish way. He blinked and looked more closely at Sara. "Wait a minute...you're Hugh, Sybil, Lavender and Godvia's cousin, aren't you?"

Sara nodded mutely, hoping that these weren't more society people.

"I'm Francis, a good friend of the Lionhearts. And this is Lavinia; I'm looking after her today, because her parents had to go to a meeting."

"Nice to meet you." Sara said politely, shaking his hand.

"Are you alright?" Lavinia asked shyly as Sara brushed the dirt off of her skirt.

"I'm fine." Sara assured her, taking in the little girls' neat blue pinafore and carefully braided blonde hair, feeling dirtier by the second.

"It was very nice meeting you, and sorry about running into you like that, but I have to go now...I...er..have to be somewhere."

Lavinia's large eyes gazed up at her, and Sara noticed that one was grey and the other was blue.

"It was nice meeting you." she said, smiling a small sweet smile.

"You'd better run off again- but this time try not to bump into anyone!" Francis said, grinning.

Sara joined in their laughter, and, waving goodbye, she began to walk down toward the beach and the nearby woods.

-x-

The minute Sara was around the corner, Lavinia let out a sigh of relief.

"That was too close!" Francis exclaimed, as Lavinia's companion Issoon re-emerged from the neighbouring stream.

"Companion?" Issoon asked Lavinia through their bond "I was not aware that there was a Universal in the area."

"A Universal?" Lavinia asked, incredulously. "You mean that Regies here?"

"No Companion." Issoon replied. "I refer to the girl who just left us.

"What, that Sara girl?" Lavinia cried out load. "Impossible, she just failed her assessment!"

"What?" Francis asked confused.

"Issoon thinks that Sybil's cousin is a universal!"

"Impossible! She doesn't have the eyes!"

"The what?" It was Lavinia's turn to be confused.

"Oh...just something George was going on about before...well, I told you about what happened in the war."

"Besides." Lavina continued. "She failed her assessment!"

"I must admit, Elizabeth Codderington _is_ a reliable assessor-albeit, not a pleasant one!"

"You have point there." Lavinia remarked dryly. "I had her for my assessment last month- I've seen cheerier people at a funeral."

"Hmmm...we should report this to her mother though. Just in case. After all, she is the head of the Chapter."

"What's her companion again? asked Lavinia.

"Sphinx companion isn't she?" replied Francis

"Yes, that's right, and her husband's Great Eagle."

"The other daughter- Katherine," here Francis blushed, "She's a Kelpie Companion, isn't she?"

"Hmmmm...You seem to have got over Godvia then" Lavinia commented.

"I don't know what you mean." Francis said with a surprising amount of dignity considering that he had just turned the same colour as a sunburnt tomato.

After bidding goodbye to Issoon, the two of them set off for the big house, neither realising that they would look back on that moment and regret it for the rest of their lives.

**I hope you enjoyed, the next chapter should be up v. shortly! Please review! :D**


	17. TRAGEDY! No, not of the Steps variety

Tragedy! (This is nothing to do with Steps, so calm down!) I have lost the notebook that I write this FF in! It's got all my chapters in! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! This is why I haven't updated in ages, hopefully when I find it I will update again! Until then, read some of the other FanFics out there, there are loads of amazing ones!

(For example, ones by AngelMail, Mbali97, DarlingSummers, CopyCatsHurtfulKisses, BethanyJane...READ THEM PEOPLE!)

And I will try and update sooooooonn!

And I love you all very muchly for reading and reveiwing FOTF! You are all awsome! Yaaaaay! (And a bit of yat too!)

Love Sapphy

P.S. When the feelin's gone, and you've got no one...


	18. Universal

**Hallo there, chaps and chapettes! I am back, having FINALLY found my note book! Some of the next chapters may still be a bit short, as I'm copying them up from ages ago, but hopefully they'll get longer! So, here we go, Chapter 16! (Finally).**

**Dedicated to StarintheSupernova for her reviews and for nominating this story for the 2010 Companions Quartet awards! **

**(You can find the Awards under my forums on my page guys, go and vote for your favourite fics and authors now!)**

Chapter 16- Universal (Connie)

Dr Brock, Evelyn, Mac, Col, Col's grandma and Mrs Godfry were all sitting around the table. Connie's throat was starting to feel rather sore from retelling her story over and over again.

"So," Col said after an awkward silence, "Is _anyone_ going to tell us who this Sara person is?"Sara James," began Dr Brock "Was the last Universal to be born in Great Britain- before Connie that is, of course."

"That's brilliant!" cried Connie, "Another Universal! Where is she? What-" she suddenly took in the rest of what Dr Brock had said. "What do you mean...was?"

Col looked from each grim face to another. "What is it?" he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Connie," Mrs Godfry's said in a shaky voice, "The 2nd of March 1949...that was the last...the last time.."

Here she broke off, wiping the tears spilling down her face with an unsteady hand. Dr Brock took over.

"The reason that Connie is the currently the only Universal in the world is because Sara James fell to her death sixty one years ago."

**Wow. That was abysmally short. *Hangs head in shame.* Sadly, the next one will be about the same length. But after that it gets better, I promise! Ahoy, shipmates, long(er) chapters ahead!**

**Please review, even though it is depressingly short...**


	19. Rage

**And...trala, hopefully my last abysmally short chapter! Enjoy guys!**

**Dedicated to Auburn Waves, for reviewing! Yay!**

Chapter 17- Rage (Sara)

Sara sat on the grey boulder on the beach, the same beach where she had fled the day before. But this time there was a difference. This time she wasn't just upset, she was angry and hurt. She closed her eyes and surrendered to the anger, letting it take over. She let out a wild scream of rage and snatched up the nearest pebble, throwing into the sea, where it splashed noisily and sank from sight beneath the dark waves. She wanted to hurt someone, to let out this mad, wild fire which coursed through her veins, seeming to burn through her blood. She began to spin in a mad dance, twisting and turning, keening at the sky, as she had seen the wild, dark robed women on the moors do. The women that no else seemed to notice but her. Images flashed before her eyes; Kitty and her friends taunting her, making her and outcast at school, the shock and horror which had spread across the stupid assessors' superior face as the strange objects which had been placed around her had gone wild, her parents look of humiliation and disappointment as the assessor woman had told them she had no gifts...she wanted to drown in her anger, to escape the emotions filling her, making her eyes burn and her throat tighten. If she could just erase herself, just cease to be, it would be so much easier. She opened her eyes, staring up at the grey sky and willing herself not to sob. Something stirred behind her, the pebbles crunching as it moved towards her. She whirled around- and something impossible walking towards her...

**Okey dokey, this one was longer than the last one (although that wasn't hard...:D). But from here on, I'm going to try my very best to write **_**long**_** chapters. With possible fluff. But warning you now, this story's almost over...:D**


	20. Temptation

**Ahoy there, shipmates! Right, this is going to be a long chapter! Long I tell you! Maybe with a little fluff (I love it, I love fluff! LOVE THE FLUFF!). Er...yes. Anyway, asides from that outburst, enjoy the chapter!**

**Dedicated to xpskl for your review! Thanks!**

Chapter 18- Temptation

_(Connie/Sara/Col)_

The beach was grey and lifeless. Connie stared out to sea, feeling numb. _Sara James fell to her death sixty one years ago..._

The words filled her head, echoing, repeating over and over. Alongside the other information that Dr Brock had told her...

_The Society failed her. Her assessor claimed she had no gifts. The day after her assessment, she went out for a walk. Lavinia and I were the last people to see her alive. On the 3__rd__ of May 1949. We don't believe her death was natural. She was running, running away from something. Something described by a witness as giant eagle..._

-x-

Sara stared at the creature walking towards her. She took a step backwards. _Hello, little Universal..._ a voice whispered in her head. She blinked in shock. "What...who...what are you?"

The eagle seemed to smile at her, its eyes twinkling cruelly. One golden. One yellow. _You may call me Kullervo. I'm here to right the wrong which has been done to you._

Sara stared at him, transfixed by those eyes. "What do you mean?"

_Your parents...your sister...they've hurt you, yes? They think you are a failure. I feel your anger Sara. You want to show them you are just as good as them. Perhaps better. Think of how their Society has mistreated you. They orchestrated you, just because they believed you were talentless. What sort of family does that, Sara? _

Sara blinked back the tears which sprung to her eyes. "I...I just want them to accept me."

_Then join me! I can see the power in you, I can sense your potential. You could be great, Universal. Together, we could rule this world. You experienced the war; you saw and heard about the horrors which your kind caused. Doesn't that make you want to act? I just want to help the world. I just want to save it. Save it from the plague of humans._

Sara nodded slowly, mesmerised. His words washed over her; she hardly took in what he was saying.

_Then come, companion! Join with me! Together we can purge the earth, and make it beautiful once more!_

Sara instinctively reached out a hand...

-x-

Connie sat down on the rock sighing and staring out to sea. She shut her eyes, remembering Sara's smiling face. _I can't believe she's dead..._

"Connie!"

She looked up, and saw Col running towards her. She waved weakly, and stood up, making her way over to him.

"Connie, are you alright?" he said, reaching her and stopping awkwardly. "Connie?"

She stared at him, wondering vaguely why he kept calling her name.

"Connie?"

She tried to step forwards, but her legs refused to obey her. Her head felt light and bubbly, as if it was floating away...

"Connie...?"

She smiled at him and felt the world tilting, everything shifting to the side...

-x-

Col gave a cry as Connie crumpled, but managed to catch her. "Connie? Come on Connie speak to me!" he said frantically, giving her a little shake. He heaved her up into his arms, so he could carry her. "Come on, Connie, wake up!"

He began to walk quickly back towards Shaker Row, still talking to Connie, to try and revive her. "Come _on_ Connie!"

He tried not to notice as he carried her how good it felt to hold her close to him.

-x-

Connie opened her eyes, still on the beach. She was lying on the pebbles, which had been imprinted into her cheeks. She rubbed her face, and sat up looking around. "Col?" she called. He'd just left her? Maybe he'd gone for help...She froze in horror. There, with his back to her, was the blue-black eagle she knew so well. Kullervo. She jumped to her feet, ready to run...which when she saw Sara, her long hair flying in the wind, reaching out a hand to the dark creature before her.

"NO!" she screamed, throwing herself at Sara and pulling her away, putting herself between Sara and her old enemy. "Leave her alone!" she shouted at Kullervo. He simply took a step closer.

-x-

Sara blinked, surprised. What had just happened? Had she really been going to agree to destroy humanity with that creature? What was he called again? She took a step away. "Connie?" she whispered to the girl in front of her, with her arms outstretched, "Connie, what's happening?"

The creature laughed. For the first time he spoke out loud. "What's the matter, little Universal? Scared of me?"

Sara grabbed Connie's hand and pulled her back. "Go away! Leave us alone!"

"Us?" Kullervo taunted, "Who's us? There's just you and me here, Universal. No one else. You're alone." Which was when he moved even closer- and stepped right through Connie.

**YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! 905 words- that's not bad! Not as long as some of my other chapters in various other stories- but still longish! Yat! Next chapter may well be the penultimate chapter of this story...but there is a distinct possibility I may write a sequel. But this one's getting renamed. Because it went in an entirely different direction that I planned it too... ah well...**

**Please review! I'll give a virtual donut to anyone who does...:D**


	21. Truth

**Hallo all, pip pip! I am writing this to the inspirational sounds of...my grandfather singing opera. But don't knock him, he won a karaoke contest in Vegas once...:D. So, here is Chapter 19, in which hopefully I will clear up most of the loose end which I'd forgotten about...*guilty look*.**

**Dedicated to everyone on the CQ forum: Guys, you are amazing! And I luuuuurve you loads! hehe, I'm slightly hyper now...I may have consumed some diet pepsi...*begins to bounce of walls...***

Chapter 19- Truth 

_(Col)_

Col finally reached the top of the beach, still holding Connie in his arms. He began to head for er house, mentally going through all that Dr. Brock had told them. He could still barely believe it himself...

-x-

_Dr. Brock sighed and sat down. "Sara James was fifteen years old when she died. She was actually a relative of yours Connie; she was your grandmother's cousin. Kitty here- well, Mrs. Godfry's to you- is her elder sister."_

_Mrs Godfry's nodded sadly. "It was entirely my fault. I'd upset her, on the day she died. She was rejected from the society, we never quite found out why. Something about her assessment going wrong- the same way I heard yours did. We were extremely lucky that history didn't repeat it's self. I was most determined that it didn't, which was why I was so angry when I found that Francis hadn't told you about Sara."_

_Dr Brock looked ashamed. "I didn't want to scare you. But I guess we never should have kept you in the dark."_

_Col had looked from one adult to another, confused. "But...didn't you think Connie would find out about it eventually? I mean, someone in the society probably would have let it slip."_

_Evelyn shook her head. "But they wouldn't have done Col."_

_Connie had stared at them. "Why not?"_

"_Because no one else in the society knew."_

-x-

Col sighed sadly as he nudged the doorbell with his elbow, struggling not to drop Connie with his arm at such an awkward angle. Evelyn answered the door almost immediately.

"Col! What happened?"

"_What happened?" Connie said, staring at Evelyn. "Why did no one know?"_

"_Because they hushed it up." Mrs Godfry's hissed. "They thought it would be bad for moral, if Society members knew that Kullervo had managed to kill newly discovered Universal- because the Society had failed her."_

"She just collapsed!" Col said, walking into the house as Evelyn moved to let him pass. "On the beach! I only just caught her..."

-x-

"_We'd just fought a war against Kullervo- we managed to temporarily defeat him, but everyone knew it wouldn't be for long. Did you really expect us to tell people that he was strong enough to strike us such a terrible blow, just four years after we last defeated him?" Dr Brock replied angrily._

Col walked into the sitting room, and Lavina, Dr. Brock and Mrs Godfry's all jumped up from the sofa.

"Good Lord...is she alright?" Mrs Godfry's asked as Col gently laid Connie's unconscious form down on the sofa.

"I don't know...she just crumpled..."

-x-

"_So you just pretended it was an accident? You just ignored the fact that she obviously didn't succumb to Kullervo- resulting in her death?" Connie cried indignantly. _

"_Of course we didn't want to! But you must understand-people would have panicked! We _had_ to conceal it! I wasn't completely happy about the idea but the Trustee's insisted."_

"_They did do something for her though Connie." Cols grandmother said gently. "When the Society helped set up NATO later that year, they used the Universals compass as the symbol, in her honour and in her memory."_

"_It was a mark of respect for her- she died to protect us all, to promote peace. What better way to show our appreciation as to link her symbol to a treaty to help keep that peace?"_

-x-

Evelyn felt Connie's pulse. "It's awfully quick...Connie?" she called "Can you hear me?"

**And...that's all you're getting for now, folks! A little on the shortish side again, but ah well. At least it's not two lines again...:D. But for the next chapter I can promise you DRAMA!**

**Please review guys!**

**Lots'sa love**

**Sapphy**

**xxx**

**P.s. Peanutbuttermonster- the next chapters dedicated to you, promise :D. xxx**


	22. Voices

**And here it is! The Chapter 20! Yat! The last chapter...but there will be an epilogue, so watch this space! And you can all thank Eim (Darling Summers) that I sat down and wrote this today, because she threatened me with an atomic tea towel and I was very scared...:D**

***Hands out donuts to all reviewers!***

**Dedicated to: PeanutButterMonster for your review! xxx **

**

* * *

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**Chapter 20**

**Voices**

_(Connie)_

Connie felt coldness flood her as the Shapeshifter stepped through her. She stumbled backwards, emerging behind him. Her shocked eyes met Sara's over the creature's wing. "Sara..." Connie whispered. Sara stood there, too surprised to do anything. "Sara!" Connie repeated. "Run!" This time Sara took notice, and spun on her heel, and began to sprint for the woods.

"Connie? Can you hear me?" a voice said. Connie blinked, and the scene in front of her disappeared. She was staring up at Evelyn's white, worried face.

"What happened?" Connie asked, looking around.

"You just collapsed, on the beach. Col managed to catch you and bring you here." Evelyn told her.

"What? But Sara...? Where did she go? She was here a second ago..." Connie said, trailing off when she saw the expression on Evelyn's face.

"Connie...you must be very tired, with all these dreams. Maybe they're a side effect of your gift...we've informed the trustee's, and they'll be down tomorrow. But maybe...maybe you should go to bed for now. Just to get some more rest."

Connie opened her mouth to argue, but closed it again. What was the point? She nodded obediently, and swung her legs off the sofa, and got to her feet. She saw Col standing on the other side of the sofa and smiled at him. "Thanks Col."

"No trouble." He said, smiling back.

She grinned at him and headed for the stairs.

-x-

The dream was the same but at the same time different.

_She was running through the forest, her long hair flying wildly around her. The dark presence was getting closer, so much closer, and panic spread through her. The girl's words seemed to echo in her head. _Run. Run._ So she did, brambles tearing at her clothes, ripping her blouse. Her aunt would kill her. She had to do all the mending at the moment, because the sewing maid had quit and they hadn't had time to find a new one. She nearly laughed at that thought; her aunt probably wouldn't get the chance. Her suppressed laughed turned to sobs of fear as the gravity of her situation hit her. Shadows seemed to sneak out towards her, tripping her. She fell, but scrambled to her feet again quickly, and kept running, and running and running, until the ground disappeared beneath her feet and she was falling, her brown hair flying around her face, her own screams echoing in her ears..._

She expected to wake at this point. This was always when she woke. But this time, the dream continued.

_She hit the water with a sickening smack. All the air was driven form her lungs in a stream of bubbles floating towards the surface. They were beautiful, the bubbles. The shimmered in the light, glorious shades of blue and green. She drifted gently to the sea bed. The water around these cliff wasn't as deep as in some other parts of the ocean, so it didn't take very long. She knew that she should try to swim, but her lungs were burning too much, and she finally gave into the urge to breathe. Salt washed inside her, and peace overcame her. The sand drifted in the currents of the ocean, which also tugged at her hair, which shimmered different colours in the light shining through the surface of the ocean. Her vision began to go black around the edges, but she didn't mind. She smiled. She just felt so calm and peaceful. She just wanted to close her eyes and sleep forever in this beautiful world..._

_Hands grasped her waist. She sighed and closed her eyes. Everything disappeared into blackness._

-x-

Connie jerked upright, gasping for air, and looking wildly around the room. _Hands. Hands around her waist. Around Sara's waist. _Whose hands? She looked back at her pillow dubiously. Did she want to see what had happened next? She felt tiredness wash through her. Well, it looked like she was going to, whether she wanted to or not...

-x-

"_Is she breathing?"_

_A voice. A voice cutting through the darkness surrounding her._

"_Looks like it." A different voice this time._

"_She swallowed half the sea by the looks of it."_

"_Nothing wrong with the sea."_

_The first voice spoke again, a warm voice, which reminded her of earth, of red berries in winter._

"_Speak for yourself, all that salt! Not a tree in sight."_

_Now the second voice, cool, like whispering waves on the sand._

"_Ah, but your cousins don't mind it."_

"_Yeah...but that tends to be the norm with __**water **__sprites. I'm a __**tree**__ sprite. It's in the name."_

"_Yes, yes...what was your name again?"_

"_Rowan. And you are?"_

"_Kelpie. Any idea what we're going to do with her now? If Kullervo knew she survived that fall..."_

"_That wouldn't be good...we need to hide her."_

"_Er...where? She could come and live with us...if she bonded with one of us, she could breathe underwater..."_

"_Yeah...she's a human child. I somehow don't think she wants to live with a pack of seals for the rest of her life."_

"_We're not seals all the time..."_

"_Whatever you say, whisker face."_

"_Do you mind? That was rather personal..."_

_Both voices tailed off into silence for a while, a pensive silence. The Rowan spoke again._

"_Got it! I have a plan..."_

"_What is it, bark breath?"_

"_Bark breath?" Rowan sounded faintly amused. "That's coming from you, fish gob..."_

"_Okay, can we stop with insults now and get down to your wonderful plan?"_

"_Fine, fine...It's risky...it may not work...but if we can pull it off...Kullervo will never find her. The garden is the key..."_

_The voices began to fade again, and her thoughts dispersed once again into darkness._

**I know I'm evil, but I do love my cliffies...:DDDDD. Epilogue will be up soon guys...:D**

**Please review! **


	23. Epilogue

**Dedicated to: Everyone who has ever read, favourite and/or reviewed this story, because YOU are the reason I sit down and write the next chapter! And you are also the reason why I kinda started writing other stories too, because you gave me confidence. So all of you; thank you so much, you are all very special, and lovely people! And to everyone who review and were promised food...*throws virtual donuts*. There you go! Thank you again, guys!**

**xxx**

**

* * *

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**Epilogue**

**Keys**

(Rowan)

Rowan watched the girl with the long black hair walk through the gardens. She had the two boys with her, one of whom was dancing around madly, the other who was laughing at him. But the girls face was serious. When they neared the door, the boys stopped messing around the watch her. Rowan moved a little closer through the branches so she could hear what was happening.

"Are you sure about this Connie?" The taller boy was saying. "I mean...it was just a dream."

"_The garden is the key..._" the girl said, brushing a few strands of hair out of her eyes. "I only really got what that meant this morning."

"Huh?" said the other boy. "How come?"

The girl smiled mysteriously, and pulled something out of her pocket. "I found this on my window sill this morning. This was next to it." She hands the small spray of red berries to the boy. Rowan smiled. So this was the right girl.

"What are these? Rowan berries?" the boy said, looking them over.

"Exactly." The dark haired girl suddenly looked up at the tree in which Rowan was perched and smiled again. "Exactly."

She walked towards the door, bent down, and inserted the silver key Rowan had left for her into the lock. She turned it. The door suddenly glowed silver, and swung open.

The Universal stepped inside.

* * *

**I'm sorry I'm evil and like to leave my stories on cliffies! But there will be a sequal! Promise! With (hopefully) lot's of long chapters!**

**Please review one last time!**


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